Boat review: Yogi Babu’s film is a cheap copy of Hitchcock’s ‘Lifeboat’

In 2006, Chimbu Deven made a smashing debut with his highly enjoyable historical comedy Imsai Arasan 23am Pulikesi. It is still one of the best films to have come from the filmmaker.

Not only did the film manage to be entertaining but also showed us how several important issues and themes can be touched upon through art without hurting anyone’s sentiments.

Over the years, sadly, Chimbu Deven has lost his touch with every release and it is even more evident with his latest film Boat, which only feels ambitious on paper but mostly ends up being a damp squib on the big screen.

Boat is heavily inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s 1944 film, Lifeboat—a survival thriller that entirely unfolds on a sea. In Hitchcock’s filmography, Lifeboat marked the beginning of his ‘limited-settings’ films, which also included movies such as Rope (1948), Dial M for Murder (1954), and Rear Window (1954).

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with taking inspiration from Lifeboat, but what Boat lacks is an engaging screenplay to keep viewers invested.

Chimbu Deven’s films have typically had an element of adventure neatly weaved into the screenplay but that’s missing big time in Boat. As much as the film tries to invoke fear by creating some thrilling moments mid-sea with scenes featuring a massive shark; it hardly makes any impact whatsoever.

Also Read: Chimbu Deven’s Boat – A film shot entirely at sea

A bad rip-off

The plot is very simple. Set in the pre-independence era of 1943, a group of survivors seek refuge in a boat to save themselves from constant shelling happening along the coast of Madras. Yogi Babu plays the boatman and he’s accompanied by his grandmother (Kullapulli Leela).

As they take the sea route to save themselves from the shelling, they’re joined by eight other survivors from different backgrounds and ethnicities.

Over the next two hours, the film tries to explore themes such as casteism, communism, freedom, and the true meaning of humanity. It also discusses how individual ego is more dangerous than a blood-thirsty shark lurking around in the sea.

Now, the film’s plot is a straight rip-off of Hitchcock’s Lifeboat, but it also borrows the narrative style and approach of Sidney Lumet’s all-time classic, 12 Angry Men (1957).

As the film, through its different characters, tries to have them discuss various things and create a strong sense of disagreement, one is reminded of 12 Angry Men. As much as the film tries hard to make sense of the various arguments the characters have over topics like caste, equality and ethnicity; everything feels very superficial.

A waste of good talent

Chimbu Deven’s films are usually high in humour and that’s always been his USP. Unfortunately, Boat isn’t even close to being funny on any front, and that’s also one of the reasons why the film feels mostly flat and boring.

The only highlight of Boat is the way it is shot, especially with the ocean playing a key part of the narrative right to the end. Otherwise, it is mostly a bland film with hardly anything that you can root for.

When it comes to the performances, even someone as experienced and good as MS Bhaskar is wasted in a role that feels like a poor man’s version of Kamal Haasan’s Senapathy from Indian (1996). The character also has a hat tip moment to the Senapathy character but it ends up being a joke.

An Englishman plays a British officer who’s mostly pissed at everyone around him. The rest of the supporting cast hardly make any difference, let alone be worthy of any discussion.

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Final take

Boat is unarguably Chimbu Deven’s weakest film. The film never quite takes off as you’d expect. Also, it struggles to stay afloat for most of its runtime.

Even as an attempt, you aren’t quite bowled over to let the issues slide. It is an effort you want to forget as quickly as possible as you walk out of the theatre.

(Views expressed here are personal.)

(Edited by Y Krishna Jyothi)

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